2012 Chicago Craft Beer Festivals

January 17, 2012 By 4 Comments

 

Get your calendars ready, folks. Here’s a rundown of the Chicagoland beer festivals you can look forward to this year. In 2011 we saw a few new festivals pop up and we hope to see the calendar round out a little more this year, especially in the woefully bare early summer. Timing is estimated based on previous years unless specifically stated.

January

Next Saturday, the 21st, is a nightmarish day of inescapable beerfood (coining that) sacrifice. Will you miss the Chicago Beer Society’s annual Brewpub Shootout where Goose Island, Haymarket, Rock Bottom, and Revolution bring the big guns? Or will you skip out on the Brew Ho! H0! and up-and-comers Corazon, Brutally Honest, Soma Ale Works, and New Oberpfalz? Here’s one way to narrow it down: the Brewpub Shootout is a ticketed CBS members-only affair. Either way, you should end up at the CHAOS homebrew club afterward for their first annual Stout and Chili Night to continue gorging yourself into the evening.

Lincoln Square has given unprecedented support to craft beer and homebrewing over the past year. On January 28th, the local Chamber of Commerce will hold its Winter Brew, a neighborhood beer festival at Dank Haus featuring beer from Half Acre, Metropolitan, Finch’s, Revolution, and 5 Rabbit, spirits from Koval, and food from Fountainhead and City Provisions. Square Kegs, Lincoln Square’s homebrew club, along with Brew Camp, the neighborhood homebrew shop, will announce the results of their recent homebrew competition at the event. Did I mention it’s sold out? Sorry!

March

Night of the Living Ales is a Chicago Beer Society event featuring cask beer from local and out-of-state breweries. Saturday, March 3rd at Goose Island – Wrigleyville, afternoon and evening sessions.

Stout Fest is Goose Island – Clybourn’s ingenious way of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Expect an intimate affair with all your favorite local breweries pouring an incredible range of stouts from clean and dry to hop-heavy and bourbon-bombed. March 17th.

Drink. Eat. Play. is putting together a beer festival in Union Station on March 31st. Afternoon and evening sessions for $40, on sale now. This is their first go-round, so expect some hiccups.

Worth noting: City Provisions will announce its summer farm dinner schedule in March.

April

Tinley Park Brew and Vine Festival doesn’t have the killer lineup of scores of breweries you’ll see later in the summer, but it’s a solid-enough early festival fix, and has wine for your oenophile friends. April 21st.

Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds usually rolls around at the end of April. Pros: huge outdoor party, high concentration of beer geekery, and you get to take home four bottles of a great imperial stout. Cons: most likely not getting tickets, waiting in a long line, buying into the limited release hoopla, and sobering up in Munster, Indiana before driving home. No date yet.

May

Chicago Craft Beer Week will return this year, but in what form? Last year’s passport and bottle cap prize redemption programs certainly had their detractors. Here’s one certainty: Beer Under Glass, the badass kickoff festival at Garfield Park Conservatory, will be back May 17th. Runs through May 27th. Apparently beer weeks are 11 days long. Alright, bonus!

June

Two Brothers will hold its annual Hop Juice Festival at their spacious Roundhouse in Aurora over two days this June 1st and 2nd.

July

Barrington Brew Fest is the north-suburban shindig of note. No date yet.

August

Wheaton Ale Fest is returning for its second go-round on August 4th. Yes, you can drink beer outside in Wheaton.

Plainfield’s Midwest Brewers Festival will likely also return after its inaugural riverfront gathering. No date yet. Our advice to Plainfield: loosen up. Nobody wants to go to a beer festival under martial law. Talk to the organizers and local officials of the other festivals listed here and they’ll tell you they have few problems with a much more laid-back approach.

Oak Park Micro Brew Review is our favorite outdoor festival. Slated for August 18th.

Goose Island – Clybourn rounds out its calendar with Belgian Fest. This is where Goose Island really shines, like with last year’s fresh-lemongrass-infused Indira. No date yet.

Great Taste of the Midwest is the premier beer festival in the midwest every year. Here’s the catch: it’s in Madison, Wisconsin, and tickets are notoriously difficult to acquire. At some point in your craft beer career, if not August 11th this year, make the journey.

September

Festiv-Ale blew us away this year. Great venue, well-curated lineup of local and national breweries, and awesome food selections included in the ticket price. It’s on for September 14. See why we called it the best Chicago beer festival that’s not FOBAB.

October

If you’re going to travel the United States for beer, put the Great American Beer Festival in Denver at the top of your itinerary. This is the big one. October 11-13th.

November

Jam Productions put on its second annual Beer Hoptacular at the Aragon Ballroom in 2011. Despite many redeeming elements, the most lasting memory of this event for us was how cramped and oversold it was. And Negra Modelo? What the hell were they doing there? Unfortunately, this felt like a beer festival put on by a production company. Props for the distilleries and homebrew components. No date yet. Be warned: this jumped from June in 2010 to November in 2011.

We called the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer our favorite beer festival of 2011. There’s no other time in Chicago that you’ll have the chance to sample a beer selection with this degree of range, complexity, innovation, and quality. Mid-November.

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Ho Ho Hops! A Chicago Craft Beer Christmas

December 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

 

Wondering what to give the craft beer geek in your life this Christmas? Worry not. Here’s your guide to Chicago’s best craft beer gifts and holiday events.

Christmas Craft Beer Gifts

Chicago by the Pint cover

Chicago’s history is deeply intertwined with its beer. In Chicago by the Pint: A Craft Beer History of the Windy City, author Denese Neu tells the story of the greatest city in the world through the beer goggles of your favorite local brewpubs.

Picture of Oxford Companion to Beer

If you think the craft beer geek in your life is an encyclopedia of beer knowledge, think again. This year, Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, author of critically acclaimed The Brewmaster’s Table, and all-around craft beer all star, edited and released The Oxford Companion to Beer, a 900+ page tome representing the best current expert knowledge about the history, culture, and science of beer. (Image via theomskirkbaron.com)

The best craft beer periodical out there is DRAFT Magazine. Each issue is visually compelling and full of top-notch beer writing. A one-year subscription is $20. Two years for $30.

So much of what makes Chicago beer culture great is the community that brews it, sells it, and drinks it. Sometimes these folks get organized and do great things together. The Chicago Beer Society holds monthly homebrew tastings at Goose Island’s Clybourn brewpub and social gatherings at Map Room. They also put on some of the city’s best annual craft beer and homebrew events, some of which are exclusive to members. Annual membership is $25.

The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, the professional organization representing breweries in the state, has a membership organization for craft beer enthusiasts called IMBIBE. The group gets early or exclusive access to events, an insider’s monthly newsletter, and swag like hats and t-shirts. Annual membership is $30.

Drop in at a local brewpub or tasting room and put together a gift package with a t-shirt, empty growler, and a gift certificate to fill it up. Check out Haymarket, Revolution, Goose Island Clybourn or Wrigleyville, Piece, or Half Acre.

Is the beer geek in your life also a homebrewer? Gift certificates to Brew & Grow, Brew Camp, and Northern Brewer are sure to please. A membership to the American Homebrewers Association includes  a subscription to Zymurgy magazine and discounts at local brewpubs (like 20% off beer and food at Goose Island brewpubs) and homebrew shops (10% at Brew & Grow).

Holiday Beer Events

Label art for Half Acre Big Hugs Imperial Coffee Stout

If standing in line for Black Friday deals didn’t satiate your limited-supply shopping thirst, head over to Half Acre on December 18 for the release of Big Hugs Imperial Stout. It’s a 10% monster brewed with Dark Matter coffee.

Haymarket is hosting a family-friendly buffet lunch with Santa on December 18. On Christmas Eve, Haymarket celebrates its first anniversary with special tappings. They open at 4 PM on Christmas day for Bulls and Bears games. Check their events page for details.

A Beer CarolDrinking & Writing Brewery’s Christmas production, A Beer Carol, tells the story of the penny-pinching macro-brewery owner Bud Miller and his harrowing visits from the ghosts of the four ingredients of beer. This live radio drama is sharp, witty, and full of hilarious live sound effects and beer geek humor. There’s only one performance left in Chicago this holiday season, on December 22 at Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park for $15. If you can’t make it then, check out upcoming performances of their high-energy “To Cure a Hangover” starting in January.

 

 

Flyer for Christmas Carol Karaoke

If drinking good beer is enough to make you break into song, check out the Christmas Carol Karaoke Party at Piece on December 22. The event benefits PAWS Chicago.

Got another holiday craft beer gift or event tip? Drop us a comment below or tweet at @chitownontap #craftbeerchristmas

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Lessons from Chicago Beer Society’s First Thursday

June 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Every month, a society of homebrewers and beer geeks comes together at Goose Island’s Clybourn brewpub to swap homebrews, give feedback, and troubleshoot pesky homebrew problems. We brought our homebrews out and got some great responses, including this one from Michael Kiser of Good Beer Hunting:

Then it was on to a Belgian Strong Golden Ale and a German-style Hefe Weizen from Paul of Chitown on Tap. The Golden Ale lived up to its name, quite like a Duvel with some noticeable but palatable alcohol strength. The Hefe, however, was delightful. With it’s clear banana and clove notes it reminded me of Greg Browne’s Gudenteit Hefe at Mickey Finn’s in Libertyville. Paul really impressed the group with this one.

It’s always great to hear that people dig the beer you make. On the flip side, we also had some spot-on criticism that opened up conversations about recipes, processes, and the problems that make homebrewers say to themselves, “Relax, don’t worry. Have a homebrew.” We walked away with these three tips to help avoid and deal with stuck mashes when working with a wheat- or oat-heavy grain bill:

  1. Spray the barley with water before milling. This will keep the husks more intact and form a more effective filter bed.
  2. Start recirculating immediately after doughing in. This will keep pesky clogs out of the mash tun ball valve and above the false bottom.
  3. Use a pump or auto-siphon to send a reverse flow through the ball valve to clear it of any clogs.

We were already mashing out hot and thin, using rice hulls, and so on, yet still got stuck on a Hopfen Weisse and a Belgian Wit, so we’re looking forward to a snag-free sparge next time around. Thanks to all the homebrewers who gave us advice. It was a really great collegial atmosphere, and I recommend it to anyone who’s brewing at home.

If you’re not brewing all-grain yet, or not brewing at all, this might all be a little confusing. Worry not. We’re teaming up with Dabble and Finch’s Beer Company to bring you a one-time $20 intro to homebrewing course on July 9th. If the interest is there, we’ll step up our offering to include an all-grain course shortly.

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